καταφρονητής

From the study of Acts 13:41

Range of meaning

One who "thinks down on" something (kata, "down," + phroneō, "think"): a person who looks down on, disregards or treats with contempt. It comes from the verb kataphroneō, used in the New Testament for despising a person (Matt 18:10), the riches of God's kindness (Rom 2:4), the church (1 Cor 11:22) or the shame of the cross (Heb 12:2). It describes an attitude of dismissive superiority, and may or may not involve open ridicule.

Against the English

KJV and YLT have "despisers" and BSB, WEB, ESV and NIV have "scoffers." "Scoffers" suggests jeering and mockery out loud. The Greek is broader and quieter. It covers anyone who treats God's announced work as beneath serious consideration, including respectable, polite people.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint (the ancient Greek Old Testament) it appears at Hab 1:5 and 2:5 and Zeph 3:4 ("men who are despisers"). It also occurs in Philo and other Hellenistic Greek for people who hold laws or gods in contempt. In Hab 1:5 it stands where the standard Hebrew text has baggôyim, "among the nations." The Greek translators probably read a Hebrew text with bôgᵉdîm, "traitors / treacherous ones." The Qumran Habakkuk commentary (1QpHab II) applies this verse to "the traitors," which suggests that reading was in circulation.